Sweetwater
Senior Member
Davis: Another torn ACL
The Carolina Panthers got this season's first taste of worst-case scenario Wednesday, when tests confirmed the original diagnosis of another torn knee ligament for LB Thomas Davis.
Davis was lost last November when he blew his right anterior cruciate ligament while backpedaling and planting on the Louisiana Superdome turf. That one was a non-contact injury, and Tuesday's spill was eerily similar. While backpedaling during individual drills next to teammate Jon Beason, Davis went down without being touched by another player, and immediately gripped his right knee.
Davis confirmed that he tore the ACL again Wednesday afternoon, saying he'd have surgery soon to repair the ligament once more.
The news is crushing for the Panthers on many levels, not the least of which is the psychological blow of losing a team leader so early.
Davis had made a remarkably quick recovery, and only a few weeks ago was thrilled that he ran a 4.47-second 40-yard dash on the team's testing day. His previous best was a 4.42 the previous year, astoundingly fast for a 240-pound linebacker.
During that recovery, he had become more and more of a leader, one of the cops of the locker room, barking at young players whose effort he questioned.
The news also comes at a terrible time for Davis financially.
He'll make $3.268 million this year after signing his restricted free agent tender, but was in line for a huge payday later — likely after the league and the players union reached agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement. Davis would have been in the $8 million per year range, but now will have to rehab again and wonder if the Panthers will still want to do such a deal for a player coming off two season-ending knee injuries.
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Man I hate that for him.
The Carolina Panthers got this season's first taste of worst-case scenario Wednesday, when tests confirmed the original diagnosis of another torn knee ligament for LB Thomas Davis.
Davis was lost last November when he blew his right anterior cruciate ligament while backpedaling and planting on the Louisiana Superdome turf. That one was a non-contact injury, and Tuesday's spill was eerily similar. While backpedaling during individual drills next to teammate Jon Beason, Davis went down without being touched by another player, and immediately gripped his right knee.
Davis confirmed that he tore the ACL again Wednesday afternoon, saying he'd have surgery soon to repair the ligament once more.
The news is crushing for the Panthers on many levels, not the least of which is the psychological blow of losing a team leader so early.
Davis had made a remarkably quick recovery, and only a few weeks ago was thrilled that he ran a 4.47-second 40-yard dash on the team's testing day. His previous best was a 4.42 the previous year, astoundingly fast for a 240-pound linebacker.
During that recovery, he had become more and more of a leader, one of the cops of the locker room, barking at young players whose effort he questioned.
The news also comes at a terrible time for Davis financially.
He'll make $3.268 million this year after signing his restricted free agent tender, but was in line for a huge payday later — likely after the league and the players union reached agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement. Davis would have been in the $8 million per year range, but now will have to rehab again and wonder if the Panthers will still want to do such a deal for a player coming off two season-ending knee injuries.
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Man I hate that for him.
